A Sarcophagus in Sunnydale
by thecrystalkey
Summary: A newspaper article has sent Jack and Daniel to Sunnydale. Primarily from the POV of Jack O'Neill but focuses on the Buffy characters. Repost from TTH, trying to get all my work in one place.
1. Chapter 1

Title: **A Sarcophagus in Sunnydale**  
**Author:** thecrystalkey  
**Summary:** A newspaper article has sent Jack and Daniel to Sunnydale. What will they find? Primarily from the POV of Jack O'Neill but focuses on the Buffy characters.  
**Spoilers: **Season 2 Buffy up to 'What's my line?', no real spoilers for SG-1 (early seasons).

**Disclaimer:** All characters copyright MGM or Joss Whedon/Twentieth Century Fox/Mutant Enemy. Only the plot is mine. This is a non-profit fan story not intended to infringe the rights of MGM, Showtime, Gekko or Double Secret productions. Nor those of Joss Whedon, Twentieth Century Fox, or Mutant Enemy. Besides I have no money, sueing me would be a waste of time. :)

**Author's note:** First thing I've written in the Buffyverse. First thing I've finished that's more than two pages. This is what happens when the only shows I have time to watch are first season Stargate and second season Buffy. I changed the chapters from how it's posted at TTH but it's otherwise the same.

* * *

"Welcome to Sunnydale," Colonel Jack O'Neill said, reading the sign out the window.

There was no sound from the seat beside him. Dr. Daniel Jackson had his head buried deep in a book and hadn't once looked up.

"Pretty place," Jack remarked, resisting the urge to knock the book from Daniel's hands. "For the middle of nowhere."

Daniel's lips twitched and he lifted his eyes to look over at Jack. "It's not the middle of nowhere, Jack. It's the middle of California."

"Same thing," Jack grumbled. "The only good thing about California is Disneyland and that's hours from here."

"Jack," Daniel said warningly.

"Daniel," the other man mocked him. "Why are we here again?"

Daniel dug a newspaper out of an outside pocket on his bag and tossed into Jack's lap. "We're here because of this," Daniel said.

The newspaper was carefully folded to show a single article with a picture of an Egyptian-looking sarcophagus next to it. The headline read "New Egyptian Exhibit Features Long-Lost Sarcophagus".

"Right, I remember now," Jack said. He started to re-read the article. He had only skimmed through it initially.

It detailed the finding of an Egyptian sarcophagus buried in the concrete foundations of a house that used to belong to an eccentric collector. The guy had been dead awhile and his descendants had eventually sold the house to move out of town. The new owners had had it torn down and, during the destruction, had found the sarcophagus and, in turn, sold it to the Sunnydale Museum.

What had gotten Daniel all excited was the close-up picture of the side of the sarcophagus. Daniel was convinced he could make out Goa'uld symbols in the grainy photo. So here they were in Sunnydale, California.

Jack sighed, looking back out the window. _Oh well_, he thought, _at least the weather's nice_.

--

Jack and Daniel settled in their hotel room, had breakfast and then took their rental car to the Museum. It was open on Sundays from about 10am and they figured there probably wouldn't be too many people around.

"Great. Just our luck," Jack muttered as he and Daniel stopped in the doorway of the room holding the sarcophagus in question.

There were three teenagers and an older man around the sarcophagus. The teenagers were two girls and a boy. One girl was blond and was leaning carelessly against the railing around the exhibit, sucking a lollipop and dressed in the height of fashion.

The other girl was a redhead, not nearly as fashionably dressed, diligently taking photos of the sarcophagus' exterior. The boy, looking just as bored as the blond, was leaning next to the redhead watching her take the pictures. The older man was apparently directing the picture taking.

"So, why are we here again?" the blond asked.

"Because this is important," the older man said in a British accent. It sounded like this was a repeated conversation.

"But its Sunday morning, Giles," she whined.

"Oh?" Giles asked. "And what were you going to do with it, Buffy?"

"Uh, sleep," the boy said, as if it was obvious.

"What he said," Buffy agreed. "We couldn't have done this in the afternoon?"

"Firstly, it's not like you need that much sleep and secondly, you have homework to do this afternoon. Both of you," he said severely.

"Well…But…I…"

"Yes?"

She sighed. "I hate it when he's right," she muttered to the other two teens and turned around.

She looked startled to see Jack and Daniel standing in the doorway. She tilted her head, assessing them.

"Hey Giles," she said, her eyes still on them. "I thought you said nobody ever came into the Museum on Sunday mornings."

"Or at all," the boy added, turning to face the door. Jack noticed him scanning the rest of the room as he turned.

"What?" the older man said, turning; he straightened as he saw them.

"Oh," Giles said, looking confused. "How very odd. Hello."

With a look at each other, Jack and Daniel started forward. Both the blond and the boy had shifted their weight, Jack noticed, as though getting ready for combat. The redhead looked like she was getting ready to run.

Daniel smiled. "Good morning," he said. "We're just, um, here to see Sunnydale and we thought since this was the only thing open, we'd some take a look around before the crowds got here."

_Very smooth, Daniel_, Jack thought approvingly. Now shut up before you give something away.

"Oh," the Brit stuttered, "we're just here to, uh, take advantage of this unique opportunity to study an unopened sarcophagus up close."

"You're here to see Sunnydale?" Buffy asked incredulously.

"On purpose?" the boy asked.

Jack tried unsuccessfully to stop a snicker. They had a point.

"Buffy. Xander," Giles reproved the teens.

"Actually, this is really just a stopover," Daniel said. "But I'm an Egyptologist and when I saw this exhibit advertised and knew we were going to be stopping in Sunnydale anyway…Well, I couldn't resist."

"And I got shanghaied," Jack volunteered.

"Ah, well," Giles said. As though that explained everything. There was an awkward moment of silence as the redhead put her head back down and kept taking photos.

"So, what are you guys doing here?" Jack asked.

The little blond girl rolled her eyes and turned back to watching her friend work.

"Well…we…um…I'm the librarian at Sunnydale High School and these three are members of a study group that I, um, run."

"The archaeology club," Buffy, the blond, volunteered brightly. Both the older guy and the teenaged boy glared at her.

"This is Xander," the man continued. "and this is Willow and Buffy. One of the subjects we're currently studying is Ancient Egypt. Um. Mythology, religion, that sort of thing."

"On a Sunday?" Jack asked.

"Well, it seemed like the best time since no one was likely to be here. We wouldn't be interrupted. And then they can get on with their homework this afternoon."

That particular comment seemed directed at the blond girl, Buffy and the boy, Xander. They looked at each other and the blond snickered.

"He's so cute when he tries to be subtle," she said. "I wanna go look at the weapons," she announced suddenly.

"Hey," Xander said. "Now that's a plan."

"Giles," she said. "Can we?"

"Please can we?" the boy added his voice.

The man looked at the two for a moment and then sighed. The two teens high-fived each other. They knew the battle was won.

"Fine," he said. "But I want you to at least pretend to take a look at the occult displays before you come back here. You might as well try to learn something useful while you're here."

The girl nodded, the boy said "Yes, sir." They were obviously eager to be off, but waiting for him to finish.

"Go on then," he said flipping his hands at them. They were heading to the door by the time he finished the first word.

"And for goodness sake don't touch anything," he yelled after them. The teens waved their hands to show they'd heard him but never looked back.

The man and the redhead, Willow, exchanged glances and shook their heads, smiling.

* * *

_Review. It does a body good. _


	2. Chapter 2

Title: **A Sarcophagus in Sunnydale (Chapter 2)**  
**Author:** thecrystalkey  
**Summary:** A newspaper article has sent Jack and Daniel to Sunnydale. What will they find? Primarily from the POV of Jack O'Neill but focuses on the Buffy characters.  
**Spoilers: **Season 2 Buffy up to 'What's my line?', no real spoilers for SG-1 (early seasons).

**Disclaimer:** All characters copyright MGM or Joss Whedon/Twentieth Century Fox/Mutant Enemy. Only the plot is mine. This is a non-profit fan story not intended to infringe the rights of MGM, Showtime, Gekko or Double Secret productions. Nor those of Joss Whedon, Twentieth Century Fox, or Mutant Enemy. Besides I have no money, sueing me would be a waste of time. :)

* * *

"Interesting students you have there," Jack commented. "They don't really look like the types that would join a study group." 

"Especially not…In archaeology," Daniel added.

"Well, Buffy's main area of interest in the group, as you've no doubt realized, is ancient weapons."

"Mythology isn't really her thing," Willow said, looking up from her camera. "She usually wants to know about the monsters. What they looked like, what their purpose was and how they were killed."

"Are you in charge of making sure she does her other homework as well?" Daniel asked.

Giles took off his glasses, polished them and put them back on.

"Yes, well. Buffy gets…distracted, sometimes and doesn't get her homework done in a timely fashion. Since it's usually something we're… working on in the group that distracts her, it's in my own best interests to help her…try to keep her priorities straight."

"And Xander?" Jack asked.

"Oh, he likes Buffy," Willow answered. Then blushed and busied herself with the camera.

"Willow," Giles reproved gently. "They are good, um, students," he said to Jack and Daniel. "T-that is…they are both quite intelligent. But, um, Buffy gets, well, distracted and Xander, well…doesn't like to do homework."

That explained why they needed to be forced to do their homework but not why the school librarian was the one doing so. Jack decided it wasn't really any of his business anyway.

"So, what is it you're doing exactly?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Oh, we're taking a series of pictures in close, so that we get as much detail as possible in each frame and because we're taking them in a specific order and each one is numbered so when I download them into the computer I can reassemble them into a 3-D digital image of the sarcophagus and because we have the pictures in such close zoom we can pick any detail and zoom in as close as we want on it to get a better look at any part of it that we have a picture of," Willow said enthusiastically.

She looked disappointed when they all looked blank, looked up at the librarian and shrugged then went back to work.

"Huh?" Jack said.

"I don't…understand it completely either," Giles admitted. "But Willow knows what she's doing and she assures me that it will be just like having an exact copy of the artefact at my fingertips."

"Well, yeah" she agreed. "That's what I said. Only you won't need to do any bending at awkward angles or drawing things or anything to get a better look at any area on it because all the detail will already be there and you can rotate it and zoom in and I'm gonna shut up now."

All three men smiled involuntarily as the girl went back to her picture-taking.

"I couldn't get a copy of that 3-D thing, could I?" Daniel asked.

"Um, I don't see why not. I'm Rupert Giles, by the way," he said, holding out his hand.

"Jack O'Neill," Jack said shaking the man's hand.

"Daniel Jackson," Daniel introduced himself in turn.

When he took the other man's hand to shake it, he stopped abruptly.

"Wait a minute, Dr. Rupert Giles? From the British Museum?" Daniel asked.

"Why, yes. Do we know each…Dr. Daniel Jackson, you were the one who asked all those questions about the pyramids. And you sent out that query on the Seth cult last year."

"Uh, yeah. I-I did," Daniel said.

"I didn't think you had email," Willow said to Giles in an amazed tone of voice.

"I-I don't," Giles admitted. Because more explanation seemed to be required he continued. "Ms. Calendar asked me about it. Wanted to know if she should be concerned, if I'd heard anything about such a cult in Sunnydale."

"Why don't I remember that?" she asked.

"I don't think I ever told you," he answered. "It was a horrifying possibility for about an hour then we discovered it was a false alarm. There is historically never more than one Seth cult at a time and there was already one in Seattle."

"One what in Seattle?" came a question from directly behind them.

The three men jumped and Willow smiled. Xander, standing just behind Buffy, snickered.

"Something wrong?" she asked innocently.

"Now I know you do that on purpose," Giles accused.

"Well, duh. It may be a gift but how am I supposed to stay in practice creeping up on..." she eyed Jack and Daniel, "people with really good hearing, if I don't sneak up on my friends? Besides aren't you the one always insisting that I need to practice my skills?"

"Well...yes but, that isn't quite what I meant. Did you visit the exhibits?"

"Yeah," she said.

"You found them disappointing?" he asked.

"Well, none of it's real! What's the fun in looking at a bunch of replicas?"

"Would you put a bunch of real occult objects on display in the Sunnydale Museum?" Giles asked wryly.

"Good point," the blond girl conceded.

"Well, I'd rather they didn't," Xander said.

Both girls snickered and Giles smiled.

Daniel and Jack looked at each other and shrugged. Obviously this was some kind of obscure in-joke.

Daniel thought of something. "How can you tell they're all fake?" he asked.

The blond and the librarian exchanged glances.

"Well, this is an archaeology club," Xander began.

"That's right," Buffy agreed quickly. "And…we did a study on fakes, and how to tell them apart from the real thing."

It was good cover story, the librarian had been right, they were both intelligent. Quick thinking, however, didn't make it any less obvious to Jack and Daniel that they were lying.

Most people might not have picked up on it, but the members of SG-1 had played off each other like that often enough to recognize when other people were doing it. Jack was willing enough to let it go, but the look in Daniel's eyes said he was dying to get to the truth.

Before he could confront them, the redhead stood up. "I'm done," she announced as she began packing up.

"Excellent," Giles said, sounding relieved.

The other two teens also made sounds of joy and moved to help their friend put her things away.

"So we can go now, right?" Buffy asked.

"Certainly," Giles agreed. "Back to the Library."

"But…Giles…Lunch?" she asked, a slight whine in her voice.

The older man looked equal parts amused and exasperated.

"I took the liberty of asking Ms. Calender to call ahead for pizza," he said, sounding slightly smug. "As she's agreed to help Willow with this project, she agreed. It is due to arrive at 11:30."

Both girls reached simultaneously to grab Xander's left wrist and look at his watch.

"Almost time," the redhead commented.

"We wouldn't want it to get cold," the blond said. And they headed for the door.

Xander and Giles looked at each other and both men shook their heads, smiling.

"How long do you think putting this, um, 3-D thing, together is going to take?" Daniel asked.

Giles took off his glasses and polished them while he thought. He shrugged as he put them back on.

"I don't know," he said. "Not too long, I expect. The idea was that it would be faster than drawing or making rubbings of the symbols."

Both Jack and Daniel looked at him questioningly.

"We're going to attempt to translate them," Giles explained. "The idea is to do so before they open the sarcophagus."

After trading looks with Daniel the USAF Colonel asked casually, "You think something's going to happen when they open it?"

"Of course not," Giles said.  
"Don't be silly," Xander said at the same time.

Neither of them sounded especially convinced. Or convincing.

_They know something_, Jack thought. He could see in Daniel's eyes that the archaeologist thought the same thing. Jack made a decision.

"If it's not going to take long," Jack said. "You mind if we tag along?"

From the reaction to his question they didn't want the two men to tag along. But neither of them seemed able to think of a plausible excuse. Giles had just agreed when the two teenaged girls appeared in the doorway.

"Are you guys coming?" the redhead asked.

"Or are you just going to stand there while we waste away from hunger?" the blond demanded.

Xander and Giles both laughed and started walking. Jack and Daniel followed with one last glance at the Sarcophagus.

"You know," the young man said as they reached the door. He slung his arms comfortably around the girls' shoulders. "This was fun. We should do this again sometime."

"Yeah," Buffy agreed. "Only…not on a Sunday morning."

* * *

_Review. It does a body good. _


	3. Chapter 3

Title: **A Sarcophagus in Sunnydale (Chapter 3)**  
**Author:** thecrystalkey  
**Summary:** A newspaper article has sent Jack and Daniel to Sunnydale. What will they find? Primarily from the POV of Jack O'Neill but focuses on the Buffy characters.  
**Spoilers: **Season 2 Buffy up to 'What's my line?', no real spoilers for SG-1 (early seasons).

**Disclaimer:** All characters copyright MGM or Joss Whedon/Twentieth Century Fox/Mutant Enemy. Only the plot is mine. This is a non-profit fan story not intended to infringe the rights of MGM, Showtime, Gekko or Double Secret productions. Nor those of Joss Whedon, Twentieth Century Fox, or Mutant Enemy. Besides I have no money, sueing me would be a waste of time. :)

* * *

Jack let Daniel drive as they headed to the high school. He called the base from his cell phone as they traveled.

"So?" Daniel asked as he hung up.

"So Hammond's got SG-3 on standby until we figure out what's going on," Jack said. "That was what I thought it was, wasn't it?"

"Yep," Daniel agreed. "Definitely a Goa'uld sarcophagus."

"What are the odds that someone's inside?" Jack asked.

"It's probably safer to assume that there is than that there isn't," Daniel suggested.

"Thank you, Daniel," O'Neill said sarcastically. "I had actually figured that out for myself. That wasn't what I was asking."

Daniel gave a put-upon sigh. "I'd say pretty good. From what I saw it was sealed all the way around. You don't seal a sarcophagus unless there's something or someone you want to keep in there."

"Great," Jack grumped.

"I think the real question is: what do they know and how do they know it?" Daniel said.

"Well, they didn't recognize us," Jack said. "Except for your name. Who is this Giles guy anyway?"

"He was a curator with the British Museum until a couple of years ago when, I guess, he moved here. I know he studied history, and the occult, at Oxford."

"You can study the occult at Oxford?" Jack asked.

"Well, the history of the occult," Daniel explained. "Religion has only come to have a minor role in history in the last hundred years or so and that only in Western cultures. The Neo-Marxist approach is to look at not-just the major religions in past societies but also the so-called minor ones. In fact, most early civilizations were held together primarily by common religious beliefs as far as we can tell. The central authority figure in a society was often considered a god or the next thing to one and the administration of affairs was by the priests-."

"Thank you, Daniel," Jack interrupted. "That's fascinating. But I think we're here."

Somehow the empty school grounds looked abandoned and ominous. There was only one car in the lot and it wasn't Dr. Giles', Jack noted as they parked in the teacher's lot. The librarian had assured them that no one would care.

"You sure this is the right place?" Jack asked, looking around.

"It says 'Sunnydale High School' in big letters on the front of the building, Jack," Daniel answered. "We probably just got here first."

"Then I guess we wait," Jack said, putting on his sunglasses and leaning against the hood of the rental car.

"Not for long, though," Daniel said, pointing down the block. "I think that's them."

Dr. Giles' car pulled into an empty space. As the four got out of the car, Jack heard Buffy speaking.

"I cannot believe they beat us here," she was saying. "You know, one of these days we have got to get you a grown up car."

Jack tried not to laugh.

"It's a perfectly good car, Buffy."

"I could outrun this car," she pointed out.

"Yeah," Willow agreed. "But you're you, you know?"

"Fine," the blond said, impatiently. "Xander could outrun this car."

The boy smirked as the librarian shook his head and led them all into the school. Jack and Daniel followed.

--

"There you are!" A voice called out as the group walked into the Library. "Finally!"

"Well, well, if it isn't the cheer queen of Sunnydale High," Xander said. "Your so-called friends ditch you for someone cooler?" he sniped.

"Oh please," the young brunette said. "Even if they had, like I would be here. I need a book, for school?" she explained.

"The Library's closed on the weekends, Cordelia," Xander explained as though to an idiot.

"I know that," the young woman said. "But you losers are always here. And I need that book. On computers. For the tutorial this week? You remember, the one that got postponed because of the dead guy?"

"I know the one she's talking about," Willow volunteered. "I'll get it." And she disappeared into the stacks.

"Where were you guys anyway?" she asked. "And who are these two?"

"At the Sunnydale Museum," Giles explained. "And Jack O'Neill and Daniel Jackson. Mr. O'Neill, Dr. Jackson, this is Cordelia Chase."

Xander and Buffy had split up. Buffy headed towards the table in the center of the library and turned on the computer. Xander leaned over the counter, grabbed a set of keys and headed into the book cage.

"At the Museum? On a Sunday morning?" Cordelia exclaimed. "That's pathetic even for you guys… Oh, wait. This isn't like, an end of the world thing, is it? Because I have a date with Brad Emerson on Tuesday. The world can't end until after that."

"Cordelia!" Giles yelled, motioning with his eyes towards the two visitors. All three teens ignored him.

"We'll try to make sure the world's still around for Tuesday night," Xander assured her sarcastically.

"It's not an end of the world thing," Buffy explained, glaring at Xander. "We don't think. It's just a research thing."

"Here's your book," Willow said a little too brightly as she emerged from the stacks.

"Well, finally," Cordelia said with a dramatic sigh. She snatched the book out of Willow's hands and went to check it out. Once that was done she paused as she opened the door to the library.

"Nothing's going to try to eat me or anything is it?" she asked nervously.

"It's daytime, Cordelia," Xander pointed out the obvious.

"You'll be fine," Buffy re-assured her. After she left Giles and Buffy both looked at Xander as he came out of the book cage. His arms were loaded down with books. They all looked old and heavy.

"What?" he asked, all injured innocence.

"Must you bait her?" Giles asked.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "It's an addiction. I just can't seem to help myself."

"Try," the librarian said.

Xander shrugged after he dropped the books down on the table. Buffy and Willow looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

Willow attached the camera to the computer and began typing commands into it. Xander sorted the books into two piles and Buffy sat down opposite the table from him and grabbed one from the top of the pile closest to her.

Xander sat down, pulled a book from the top of his pile and began reading. Jack leaned against a wall and watched. Daniel began to drift towards the table to get a better look at the books.

_Whatever else they were lying about, these four were definitely used to doing this kind of research_, Jack thought. Dr. Giles had disappeared into what was apparently his office and seemed to be looking for something.

The teens seemed to have the run of the Library and for all their chatter and complaints had quickly settled down to work. Not one of them had bothered to ask permission to access anything, and the librarian didn't even bother to caution them to be careful of the books.

From what Jack saw, he didn't need to, both Xander and Buffy were turning pages very carefully in the old books.

After about two minutes the blond girl looked up.

"Where's the pizza?" she asked. Her friends both shrugged.

"It'll get here," Xander said.

"Unless the delivery guy gets eaten or dead," Jack put in. He could tell by the way they all avoided looking at each other that he'd hit a nerve.

"Cordelia's crazy," Xander said after a moment.

"We find it best just to humour her," Willow added, nodding.

Jack decided to accept that explanation for now, but he was more determined than ever to find out what was really going on here.

"Where is the pizza?" Willow asked impatiently. "I'm so hungry I could eat a pig."

Her eyes widened and she clapped her hands to her mouth after she said it.

"Hey!" Xander protested. "No fair!"

"Go Wills," Buffy said. Crumpled balls of paper were batted out of the air by the young women as they both giggled.

"And you call yourself Jewish, woman," Xander said, mock-severely. This too was apparently an in-joke.

"Pizza's here," a woman's voice announced as the library door swung open.

A woman in her mid to late 20's walked through the door. Jack blinked. She was gorgeous, if not his usual type. If he were twenty years younger he might have…He stopped the thought as he watched her look around. She was obviously looking for Dr. Giles.

Cries of "Ms. Calendar!" greeted her.

"You only like me for my pizza," she said as she dropped three pizza boxes on a free space on the table.

"There's no ham, is there?" Xander asked, worriedly.

"I thought Willow was the Jewish one," the woman, obviously a teacher, commented.

"I am," Willow agreed.

"One word," Xander said. "Hyena."

Ms. Calendar thought about that and smiled involuntarily.

"I forgot about that," she said. "There's only ham on the Hawaiian pizza."

She turned around and looked curiously at Jack and Daniel.

"Giles! Pizza!" Buffy called. "We picked them up the Museum," she explained after noticing where Ms. Calendar was looking.

"You make us sound like a disease," Jack complained, pushing himself off the wall and holding his hand out.

"Jack O'Neill," he introduced himself. "And this is Daniel Jackson."

Her eyes lit up when he introduced Daniel. "Dr. Jackson! It's an honor to finally meet you," she said as she shook his hand. "I'm Jenny Calendar. I've read a lot of your work and I want to tell you that I think it's such a shame that the academic world is so narrow-minded."

"Well," Daniel said with an uncomfortable shrug. "You can't really blame them. It's not like I had any solid proof or anything. Still don't. I work for the Air Force now. At least my linguistics degree has been good for something."

Her look said she didn't believe him, but was willing to let it go.

"Did you ever find that Seth cult you were looking for?" she asked. "It was the one in Seattle, right?"

"You're the one that sent me that information?" Daniel asked. She nodded.

"I thought you found it on the Feds internal website?" Jack asked.

"I got the details from the CIA, Jack. It was an email from Ms. Calendar here that sent me in the right direction."

"And how did you find out?" Jack asked her curiously.

"I'm a techno-pagan," she said without apology. "I keep tabs on weird things. People know that and often send me information that isn't always public knowledge. When I can, I try to pass it on to the right people. Looks like it worked this time."

"What cult?" Buffy asked from behind them. "Tell me there's no cult."

"There's no cult," Ms. Calendar reassured her. "And they were in Seattle anyway."

"Phew," she said. "I actually came over here to tell you that you're missing out on the pizza."

The adults followed her back to the table and each grabbed a piece of pizza. A moment later, Dr. Giles followed Xander out of his office and got a piece as well.

"So what's a Seth cult?" Buffy asked. Neither Dr. Giles nor Ms. Calendar seemed surprised at the question.

"What cult?" Xander asked. "No cult. Cults are bad."

"Even if there was," Giles said. "It would be a matter for the police to deal with."

The teenagers looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

"Because the police are so effective," Buffy murmured sarcastically.

"It would be their problem, regardless," Giles said.

"So, Dr. Giles," Jack tried to change the subject. "Daniel said your PhD was in occult history…or neo-marxism or something. Why did you decide to become a high school librarian?"

The silence was deafening. Everyone looked uncomfortable and Daniel elbowed Jack. Jack gave Daniel his patented clueless stare.

He knew what he'd asked, of course, but it was a question that needed an answer as far as he was concerned.

"It was a career change…at the request of my family," Giles said.

_He isn't lying_, Jack thought. _But he isn't exactly telling the truth either_. He allowed the uncomfortable silence to stretch, hoping for something more. It was one of the kids that broke the silence.

"So. Dr. Giles, huh?" Buffy asked brightly. Giles smiled at her gratefully.

"Yeah, Dr. G-man," Xander said.

"I have asked you not to…"he trailed off as Xander just grinned. "Oh, what's the point?" Giles muttered, polishing his glasses. "Just don't tell Snyder."

"Don't tell me what?" a sneering voice came from the door.

Giles and Buffy both automatically moved to block the view of the table from the door. When Jack looked past them he noticed the pizza boxes had magically disappeared.

"Why, how much we…all…admire and…respect you as our principal," Buffy said in her most sincere voice. The little man standing in the door glared at her.

"I wasn't talking to you, Summers. You may have been able to get away with that smart-mouth in LA, but I'm in charge here, missy."

"What are you doing here, Principal Snyder?" Xander asked, drawing the hostile stare onto himself.

"This is my school Harris. I don't need a reason to be here," the man said snidely. "I came to see what you were doing here. I believe I've mentioned that I don't approve of students being in the school after hours."

"You don't approve of students at all," Jack heard Xander mutter.

"What did you say?" the man asked.

"Um, just that we know we shouldn't be here at all today, but, um," he stammered to a halt.

"We're working on a project," Willow jumped in. "Extra credit. For Ms. Calendar's class."

"Because Xander and Buffy are so behind in marks," Ms. Calendar continued the explanation. "I just came by to make sure they were working."

He glared at them suspiciously but couldn't seem to find any holes in their explanation.

"I want you out of here as soon as you're done," he said after a moment. "And you had better be done soon. I'll have the police keeping an eye out, so don't go thinking you can burn down any buildings."

That particular comment seemed directed at Buffy.

"The fire marshal…" she protested weakly. His glare stopped her and she sighed and looked at the floor. "I'll try," she said sullenly.

"Good. Do I smell pizza?" the principal asked suspiciously.

"I don't smell anything," Giles said mildly. The principal glared at them suspiciously but began heading to the door.

"I want to see a copy of that assignment when they hand it in," he said to Ms. Calendar.

"Of course," she agreed.

"Good," he glared darkly at all those in the room before heading out.

He hadn't apparently noticed Jack and Daniel. That was when Jack realized that the group had not just been screening the food but himself and Daniel from sight as well.

"Troll," Giles muttered as he took his glasses of and polished them again.

"Trolls are prettier," Ms. Calendar observed. "And have better personalities."

"Doesn't that guy have anything better to do than make my life miserable?" Buffy asked plaintively.

"I think he's made it his mission in life to make all of us as miserable as possible," Giles said dryly. "Remember the talent show."

All three teens shuddered. So did Giles.

Ms. Calendar sighed. "And now I have to think of an extra-credit assignment for you two to do," she said.

Xander and Buffy protested while Willow giggled and promised to help. The pizza boxes made a re-appearance.

When the pizza was mostly gone and she'd helped Willow out with her program Ms. Calendar took herself off, promising to dispose of the evidence on her way out.

With lunch over, the teens settled back down to work and Giles disappeared into his office again.

Daniel, feeling more comfortable around this group, moved forward and began reading over Xander's shoulder. As he read, his eyes widened.

"This is Goldblum," Daniel said, sounding amazed. "Right?" he asked the teen.

The boy checked the front of the book using a finger to hold his place.

"Yep," he agreed. "1891. What is it with books before 1900? I mean, did they really have to use all those big words?"

Jack chuckled from where he was sitting on the stairs.

Daniel seemed to be speechless and Jack wished he had a camera, because nobody at the base would believe a speechless Dr. Jackson.

"It's…Goldblum. I've been trying to get my hands on a copy for the last eight years. And it's in a high school library?" Daniel sounded outraged and incredulous.

"Actually, this is from Giles' private collection," Xander explained. "On obscure dialects of Ancient Egypt and their written form," he quoted. "One day, I'm gonna write a book and title it 'On why 19th century authors all felt they had to be so long-winded' by Alexander Harris."

The girls giggled. Daniel gave him an amused smile and began reverently sorting through the rest of the stack. Eventually he picked a book and sat down to read it.

Jack settled down to watch the door and his friend.

* * *

_Review. It does a body good. _


	4. Chapter 4

Title: **A Sarcophagus in Sunnydale (Chapter 4)**  
**Author:** thecrystalkey  
**Summary:** A newspaper article has sent Jack and Daniel to Sunnydale. What will they find? Primarily from the POV of Jack O'Neill but focuses on the Buffy characters.  
**Spoilers: **Season 2 Buffy up to 'What's my line?', no real spoilers for SG-1 (early seasons).

**Disclaimer:** All characters copyright MGM or Joss Whedon/Twentieth Century Fox/Mutant Enemy. Only the plot is mine. This is a non-profit fan story not intended to infringe the rights of MGM, Showtime, Gekko or Double Secret productions. Nor those of Joss Whedon, Twentieth Century Fox, or Mutant Enemy. Besides I have no money, sueing me would be a waste of time. :)

* * *

By four o'clock that afternoon Jack was thoroughly bored.

But Daniel seemed to be in research heaven so he made no move to suggest they leave and come back later.

Whenever he got really bored he'd go out into the hall and call Colorado to get an update on the background searches he'd ordered. He'd even requested one on Principal Snyder just because the man rubbed him the wrong way.

The only one that had come through so far was the one of Snyder. The rest of them had something blocking any official files so that even Carter couldn't get into them.

The only thing they'd been able to access so far were the teenagers' medical records, which Carter had said were weird. She was having Dr. Fraser go over them, but she wouldn't explain anything. Said she didn't want to jump to conclusions.

Except for the fact that they were hiding something, and that they were at school voluntarily on a Sunday, they looked like perfectly normal teenagers to Jack.

The blond girl, Buffy, had made a snack run about half an hour after lunch and was now snoring gently on the open pages of the book she'd been reading. Xander kept reading. It didn't escape Jack's attention that not all of the books were in English.

The boy and Willow exchanged occasional amused glances when the other girl let out a particularly loud snore but let her sleep.

"Ooh, hey, I think I've got something!" Xander said, sitting up straighter in his chair. He'd said it quietly but the excitement in his voice was there.

Willow and Daniel both raised their eyebrows as they looked at him. He held the book up to Willow.

"That's them," Willow confirmed after a moment.

Jack and Daniel both made aborted lunges for the book. A look from Xander said he'd noticed, but Willow was oblivious.

"What does it say?" Willow asked after they had called Giles in.

With an exasperated look he woke Buffy before letting Xander begin.

"Um, here. 'These glyphs are different from the usual hieroglyphics found on Ancient Egyptian artifacts. They are similar to a subset described in Goldblum 1891, that he claimed to have found on a number of religious artifacts, both in conjunction with the more usual hieroglyphics and on their own. His claim that they represented the language of the gods has never been proven because he never showed that these particular glyphs even existed.  
"The artifacts he claimed to have found them on disappeared almost immediately following his first publication. They were never found and in the absence of evidence Goldblum's claims were dismissed. It is this author's pleasure to be able to report that such glyphs do seem to have existed (Image Plate 65) and from a comparison with the hieroglyphs they were found with, have been partially translated by this author. A full translation will be published when it has been completed.  
"It is clear from the work already completed that this is indeed another form of the Ancient Egyptian language. Possibly even some earlier form of the language that became considered the language of the gods after its common use had been replaced…' yadda, yadda yadda. The best part is that he included the partial translation he'd already completed." Xander said triumphantly.

"We don't have a copy of the full translation?" Willow asked with a frown.

"No," Giles said. "That is Mauritius isn't it?" he asked.

"Yeah," Xander said. "Why don't we?"

"Because he died before he could complete the translation," Giles explained. "The artifacts he was working on disappeared that night, so one else ever continued it. Since he wouldn't let anyone else near the things, it was decided that he had made them up in order to prove both himself and Goldblum, his idol, correct."

"And no one was the least bit suspicious?" Buffy demanded incredulously.

Giles made a face and shrugged. "He wasn't well-liked either."

"So no one cared," Xander said, frowning.

"That's so sad!" Willow exclaimed.

"More to the point," Giles said bluntly. "It's a pain."

"Why?" Daniel asked, nervously.

"Because we'll have to complete the translation," Xander said with a sigh. "I hate Ancient Egyptian. They couldn't have just used normal letters? What?"

This last was addressing the looks of dismay or amusement on the faces of the others.

"Never mind," Giles said. "You need to do your homework first anyway. You and Buffy both. How's it coming Willow?" he asked over their groans.

"Actually I'm close to done," she said cheerfully. "How's your research going?"

"I think I've managed to trace the history of the artifact," Giles said.

"So? Give," Buffy said.

"It was found somewhere in Egypt by Napoleon and brought back to France. There were several attempts made to get it open, none of which worked. Any attempts at translating the writing on the sides have been lost, assuming there ever were any. When Napoleon was exiled the sarcophagus was given to the Musée Nationale, or whatever it was called then. The government sold it to a private collector in Paris during World War I for a tidy sum.  
"When France was invaded during World War II, the artifact fell into the hands of the Nazis. After several unsuccessful attempts to get the thing open themselves they turned around and sold it for a small fortune to a private American collector who supported the cause."

"Bad man," all three teens muttered.

"Indeed," Giles agreed. "Very bad man. But very rich. He originally lived in New York, where he had made his fortune. His sympathies were never made public, fortunately for him. As he got older he became more and more interested in the occult, as some people do when they get closer to death. And he wanted to get away from his many greedy relatives, so when he retired he moved to Sunnydale."

"Because where else would a Nazi sympathizer who wants to live forever move?" Buffy asked rhetorically.

"I hate this town," Xander said, dropping his head to the tabletop. Willow sighed.

"At least he's dead," Willow offered. "He is dead, right?" she asked.

"Of course he is," Giles said.

The girl didn't look very convinced. Then again, neither did the librarian.

"Well, yeah. I mean, would he have let something that big and…and gold out of his sight if he weren't?" Xander asked.

All four of them looked a little more re-assured at that thought.

It was the kind of question Jack would have expected about the owner of the sarcophagus at the SGC, not in a small town's high school library.

While he was thinking about that, and wondering if Carter had anything yet, Giles had sorted the teenagers out. Willow was back to messing around on her computer and Buffy and Xander had switched from 19th and early 20th century books to high school textbooks. Both of them looked a lot more unhappy than they had with the other books.

Seeing that Daniel had buried himself in another book Jack decided that now was a good time to call his 2IC.

--

"Tell me you've got something," Jack pleaded as Samantha Carter answered the phone.

"I've got something," she said, sounding amused. "Just not much. And it's not nice."

"What is it?" Jack asked.

"Janet says that the hospital records of all three teenagers are consistent with a pattern of systematic abuse. Especially Summers and Harris. Most especially Harris." Carter's voice was unnaturally even. Jack knew it had upset her. It upset him.

"Those kids don't act abused," he protested. "I've talked to abused children before and except for voluntarily being at school on a Sunday these kids don't act abused."

"I'm just telling you what Janet said, sir," she said. Her voice was still too even.

"If it's true why hasn't anyone at the hospital noticed anything?" Jack demanded. "I thought they were supposed to be trained to spot these things. And why especially Harris?"

"Alexander Harris' records go back much farther than either of the girls. He's been treated for broken bones and internal bleeding with extensive bruises since he was about 6 years old. He has a record at every hospital and clinic in Sunnydale.  
"It becomes less frequent after age 10, Janet says he probably found a really good hiding place or something, tapers off altogether around age 14 and then he begins to come in again just after Christmas break in his sixteenth year. That coincides with Miss Summers' arrival in Sunnydale. Miss Rosenberg's hospital visits also become more frequent after that."

"You think Buffy is beating them up?" Jack asked, not quite believing his ears.

"No, sir," she said. "I'm just pointing out the coincidental timing. Janet says that the other explanation is that they joined a gang or something. In fact, she said she thinks it's the most likely explanation for everything except Harris' early years. We've been able to access Buffy's records from high school in LA.  
"She was suspected of being involved in gang activity there and was accused of burning down a number of school buildings. The only one they had evidence for was the school gym because it happened during the Spring Fling, an annual dance. After that she was asked to leave the school and she and her mother moved to Sunnydale."

"She's five foot three and she dresses like she just stepped out of one of Cassie's fashion magazines. And the school librarian just bullied her into doing her homework," Jack pointed out.

"I can only tell you what I've found out so far. I still haven't been able to access much of anything in Sunnydale itself," she said apologetically.

He sighed into the phone. "Which is weird all by itself," he acknowledged. "There's something going on here Carter. I don't think it's gangs but I do think those kids, and at least two of their teachers, are involved somehow. Or at least, know what's going on."

"At this rate, you're more likely to find out what's going on there than I am from here. All the information that's available points to what you're telling me are the wrong conclusions."

"Well, keep working on it. I find out anything important I'll let you know." Jack said, preparing to hang up. Then something that had been said during lunch hit him.

--- Flashback ---  
"It would be a matter for the police to deal with," Giles said.

The teenagers looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

"Because the police are so effective," Buffy murmured sarcastically.

"It would be their problem, regardless," Giles said firmly.

--- End Flashback ---

"Wait," Jack said before Carter could hang up. "Something they said earlier just hit me and it occurred to me that maybe they were a vigilante group. Would that fit?" he asked.

"I don't know…Vigilante teenagers, sir?" Carter sounded like the idea was causing her pain.

"There's something going on in this town, Carter. And I don't think it has much, if anything, to do with that sarcophagus," Jack said. "They've implied more than once that the police here are useless at best. Maybe it's a 'Take Back the Night' kinda thing. As far as I can Harris and Giles are the only two guys involved."

"It would fit the facts," she said thoughtfully. "If Harris was a victim himself when he was younger, he might have decided to deal with it by protecting others."

It didn't explain their apparently common use of obscure historical sources to research…whatever it was they usually researched. And Jack was sure those books were there because they were used often for research. It did, however, explain a lot.

The archaeology club thing was probably a cover, but there might have been more truth to it than Jack had first thought. It fit all the facts, he mused as he said goodbye to Carter, but it still didn't feel right.

His gut was telling him that something was rotten in Sunnydale and these people were at the center of it.

--

When Jack got back to the library Daniel was still buried in his book. He seemed to be finding it fascinating. He was actually taking notes.

Jack settled back down on the stairs, knowing he couldn't tear Daniel away now. Giles was working on translating the symbols and Jack knew he should be trying to stop the guy, but they were trying to keep a low profile.

They couldn't move until they knew for sure that this was a Goa'uld sarcophagus and that there was a Goa'uld in it. Hammond was working through channels to try to get possession of it, but they couldn't risk blowing their cover by having military personnel retrieve it. Not yet anyway.

Buffy sighed, closed the book she was reading and began lightly banging her head against the closed cover.

Her friends just looked amused. Giles came out of his office to see what the noise was. His lips twitched into an affectionate smile and he went back into his office, shaking his head.

"The knowledge isn't going to jump into your head if you beat the book up, Buffy," Willow pointed out with a smile.

"What time's sunset?" the blond asked.

"5:32," Willow and Xander chorused.

At the look Daniel gave them Willow smiled and Xander shrugged.

"Uhn," Buffy said. "What time is it now?"

Xander looked at his watch. "Five," he said with a sigh.

Buffy's eyes widened. "I have to call my mom," she said, getting up. She went over to the counter, reached over the top and pulled up a phone.

"Hi mom," she said cheerfully. She bit her lip. "Yeah. I'm really sorry. I just totally lost track of the time." She listened some more, then smiled. "Yes, we did eat lunch… Pizza…Yeah, I'm still at Willow's…. It's just, I'm really struggling with the math and we have that test tomorrow. I was wondering if you'd mind if I just..." she trailed off, listening.

"Sure. She's right here," Buffy said beckoning frantically at Willow. The other girl was laughing as she got up and headed over to the phone.

"Hi, Mrs. Summers," the redhead said into the phone. "Yes, she's been doing her homework… Uh huh…Well, we were hoping to be but Ms. Calendar just assigned her and Xander this extra credit project and we've been working on that and it's been taking longer than we expected it to…Yes, Mrs. Summers, we know it's a school night…I'll make sure she leaves on time…"

Willow listened for a little while longer then said goodbye and handed the phone back.

A series of "Yes, mom" s later Buffy was hanging up the phone.

She rolled her eyes at her friends as she sat back down. "I have to be home by seven. One report of sleeping in class and all of sudden school night curfew gets stricter," she said.

"You're just lucky she thinks Snyder's a troll as well," Xander pointed out. The blond girl smiled and perked right up.

"You're right," she agreed. "I love my mom."

"I should call mine, too," Xander said with a sigh. He got up and went to the phone.

He drummed his fingers on the counter as the phone rang. He breathed a sigh of relief when the machine picked up.

"Hi. I'm still at Willow's. I'm staying the night. I'll get to school from here," he said into the phone. Then he hung up.

Jack felt his eyebrows go up as he listened to Xander's message to his parents. The girls didn't seem to think anything was odd about it. He remembered what Carter had said about the kid's medical records.

He felt a slow burning anger build at this evidence that she was right. He began to think about what he could do about it.

"Don't you need to call your parents?" Daniel asked Willow.

She shrugged. "They're in New York."

And couldn't care less where I was even if they weren't, Jack silently filled in the rest of that sentence. The unhappiness buried in her voice and expression gave it away.

Her parents might not have hit her, Jack decided, but they seemed to have done their own damage.

"So, um, why not tell your parents where you actually are?" Daniel asked. "I mean they couldn't object to your studying in the library, could they?"

The teenagers looked at each other and then all three looked at Daniel like he was completely clueless and should be pitied for it. Jack chuckled.

"Oh," Buffy said. "Like my mom would believe that. If she knew how much time I actually spent in here she'd get suspicious. And then she'd drop by."

Buffy's tone made it clear that that was the worst possible thing in the world.

"And also," Xander said. "Then they might actually know where we were. How could we hold our heads up around other teenagers if we didn't lie to our parents?"

That had the girls laughing and agreeing.

"Does Mr. Giles know you're lying to your parents?" Jack asked.

"I wasn't comfortable with it at first," the man himself said from the doorway into his office. "But on the whole I've decided I prefer it. The truth would make them suspicious of my motives. This system works for us. Besides, as Buffy said, if they knew the truth they might decide to drop by."

"What's to stop them calling Willow's house and realizing no one's home?" Daniel asked.

"I have the phone forwarded to here," Willow said casually. "No one ever calls here, so if the phone rings we know it's either someone who knows we're here or someone calling my house."

--

Jack had gone to get in touch with Carter again.

She had no new updates to report. Or at least nothing good. He wasn't too disappointed since he had called mostly to ask her to find information on the kids' parents.

He now thought he understood at least part of Giles' reasons for involving himself with these kids. And his taking responsibility for their doing their homework. He obviously felt a level of paternal affection for all three teenagers.

Harris and Rosenberg didn't seem to have anyone in their home lives that cared if they did their homework and, while Summers did, Jack got the impression that she might have blown it off anyway. For all of her mocking comments about his car and dress sense, the blond girl seemed to respect the older man and would do her homework because he'd told her to.

As he was heading back to the library he heard voices that sounded like they were standing near the library's door.

"…get home, convince my mom I'm going to bed early and then patrol." Buffy was saying.

"You will be careful?" Giles asked. "Spike is still out there."

"You worry too much," the girl said breezily. "I'll be fine. When I get back, I'll be able to concentrate and Wills will be free to help me with the math."

"Alright," the older man agreed. "If you need help…"

"I'll call," the young woman sounded amused but affectionate. "My cell phone's fully charged and everything."

There was the sound of footsteps moving off down the hall and then Jack heard the library doors open and close. There was definitely something weird going on. His vigilante idea seemed closer and closer to the truth.

He just had to work out what such a seemingly-staid British man was doing involved with a bunch of teenagers who spent their Sundays in the school library and then lied about it to their parents.

* * *

_Review. It does a body good. _


	5. Chapter 5

Title: **A Sarcophagus in Sunnydale (Chapter 5)**  
**Author:** thecrystalkey  
**Summary:** A newspaper article has sent Jack and Daniel to Sunnydale. What will they find? Primarily from the POV of Jack O'Neill but focuses on the Buffy characters.  
**Spoilers: **Season 2 Buffy up to 'What's my line?', no real spoilers for SG-1 (early seasons).

**Disclaimer:** All characters copyright MGM or Joss Whedon/Twentieth Century Fox/Mutant Enemy. Only the plot is mine. This is a non-profit fan story not intended to infringe the rights of MGM, Showtime, Gekko or Double Secret productions. Nor those of Joss Whedon, Twentieth Century Fox, or Mutant Enemy. Besides I have no money, sueing me would be a waste of time. :)

* * *

Harris was trying to pull Willow away from her computer to help with his math homework.

It was nearly eight o'clock at night and she was assuring them repeatedly that she was almost done.

All four members of the group had asked if they were sure they didn't want to just go and pick up a copy tomorrow sometime.

Daniel was still drooling over Giles' books and Jack didn't really want to leave him alone with these people until he knew more about them.

All conversation stopped when Buffy walked, or rather limped, into the library. Her expression was stormy as she walked across the room and threw herself down on the stairs, left leg stretched out in front of her.

One look at her and Xander was moving. By the time she'd sat down he was offering an ice pack wrapped in a towel. She took it with a smile of thanks and put it on her knee.

She frowned down at her knee until Giles emerged from the office offering two aspirin and a cup of water. She took them gratefully and swallowed them. He and the young man waited patiently, without saying a word.

"Four of them snuck on me in the park," she said grumpily. "I can't believe I let them sneak up on me!"

"They're not- They didn't follow you or anything?" Giles asked, looking towards the door.

"Please," she said. "I dusted 'em. But how am I supposed to sneak back into my house now?" she asked plaintively.

"I can boost you to the roof," Xander offered.

"I might need to take you up on that," she said wryly.

"You said there were four?" Giles asked. "Any more elsewhere?"

"A couple," she said. "Is there something special about tonight? Because otherwise, you know what this means."

She sounded much more mature than she had before. She also sounded tired and irritated.

"Nest," Xander sighed. "And we have a math test tomorrow."

"Probably we can deal with it at lunch," Buffy offered. "Best time for it anyway."

"I'm done!" Willow suddenly exclaimed from the computer.

Daniel got up to take a look at what she'd done. The other three had turned towards her and offered congratulations but stayed where they were.

They'd kept their conversation quiet but Jack had deliberately put himself in a position to overhear. When the girl had come in injured, he'd decided enough was enough.

"So how long have you been doing this?" Jack asked.

Everyone in the room turned to look at him with expressions ranging from horrified to irritated. But none of the four answered.

"This vigilante thing," Jack clarified. "How long has it been going on?"

"Vigilante?" Xander asked. "What's a vigilante?"

"We're an archaeology club," Willow protested weakly.

"You might be that as well," Jack said pleasantly. "But that's not all you are. I'm right, aren't I? This is some kind of secret take-back-the-night thing. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against the idea."

"Then why do you sound so angry about it?" Giles asked coolly.

"Because you're sending kids out there, alone, to do the work," Jack accused. Giles paled and he knew he'd hit a weak spot. Maybe now he'd get to the truth.

Buffy stood and stepped between him and Giles.

"How dare you?" she said, outraged. "How dare you judge him like that when you know nothing about the situation!"

Summers and Harris were now standing between Jack and Giles, in combat-ready stances like they'd been at the Museum. Rosenberg hadn't moved from the computer but she was standing and also seemed ready to defend the librarian.

A sudden loud noise had Daniel ducking and Jack reaching for a non-existent gun.

The Sunnydalers scattered: Giles went for his office, Willow for the bookcage, Xander turned to face the main doors. Buffy stayed facing the noise, which had come from the stacks.

Jack heard a whistling, like someone calling a dog.

"Here, Slayer," a male voice called softly from the behind the bookshelves. "Here Slayer, Slayer, Slayer. Here, girl."

Giles came out of his office and began tossing some objects to the blond girl. They looked like sharpened pieces of wood, which she caught and concealed on her person.

Looking behind him Jack saw Willow tossing the same objects to Xander, who was also concealing them on himself. Then the little redhead pulled out a reloading crossbow and began to arm it.

_What the hell is going on?_ Jack thought. Because the fact was that none of the four seemed particularly surprised.

"I don't know that a guy that calls himself Spike has any right to be calling me like I'm a dog," Buffy said.

"Because a name like Buffy isn't a dog's name at all," a sarcastic British voice answered.

A man suddenly appeared from behind one of the bookcases.

"Hello, pet," he said. His hair was bleached blond, he wore a red silk shirt, black leather pants and a black leather duster.

"Spike," Buffy acknowledged.

"Listen, love, your mother isn't here is she?" the man, Spike, asked, looking around warily.

"No, she's not here," the girl said softly. She was smiling. "It's just you and me."

"Well, you and me and your little friends," the man corrected. "Good thing I brought some friends of my own."

As if that had been a signal, more people came out from behind the bookshelves and a few came in the through the main doors.

Spike hopped the railing and attacked the girl. While he was jumping his face changed becoming what Jack might have believed was a fright mask if he hadn't seen the guy's face change.

Then Jack and Daniel were both busy fighting for their lives. Jack managed to get the…creature that had attacked down on the floor, but then had no idea what to do with it.

He looked up, searching for a weapon. Harris tossed him one of the bits of wood yelling, "Aim for the heart!"

Jack caught it reflexively and plunged it into the thing's heart before he thought about it. The creature exploded into dust in front of his eyes. After allowing himself a moment's amazement, Jack O'Neill scrambled to his feet and went to help Daniel Jackson.

The next time he had a moment to look around, he noticed that Giles and Willow seemed to have a system with the older man holding one of the creatures in place while the girl staked it.

Buffy was still fighting the talkative one, they'd moved back up the stairs and were fighting it out with faster than human punches and kicks. Xander was picking himself up off the floor where he had apparently been thrown into a wall. He shook his head and went for a flying tackle on one of the creatures that was trying to get in behind Buffy.

The thing got in a pretty good hit to the side of the kid's face but the boy managed to get the creature in the heart at about that time. Then Jack was tackled from behind and had no more time for observations.

The next time he got the chance to look around was when the fight paused at the sound of sirens approaching.

The blond guy threw Buffy into a wall.

"And that's my cue to leave," he said. "We'll continue this some other time."

And he ran back behind the bookshelves. The creatures that were still left followed him.

The locals all looked at each other.

"Bugger it," Giles said, looking around at the damage. "Snyder is going to have a field day with this."

"He can't blame you," Buffy pointed out. "We weren't here, remember?"

"You did move your car?" Xander asked.

"Well, yes," the librarian said. "That doesn't mean he isn't going to blame me. It is my library."

"On the bright side, no nest," Xander said.

"Yeah, it was just Spike trying to kill me again," the blond girl said dryly.

"If we weren't here," Willow said. "Shouldn't we not be here when the police come in?"

"They're already here," Daniel pointed out.

"There's a way out behind the stacks," Giles said as the teenagers grabbed their things.

Willow re-armed the crossbow and handed it to Xander, who already had his backpack on. She locked up the book cage and threw the keys to Giles.

Buffy flipped the lights off and all four Sunnydalers pulled out flashlights and flicked them on.

This was obviously not the first time they'd done this either.

"I thought you said this kind of thing is for the police to deal with?" Jack whispered to Giles as they made their way out of the building.

"This is exactly the kind of the thing the police aren't equipped to deal with," Buffy said. "They'd only come with guns."

As they walked quickly away from the school Xander took point, holding the crossbow at the ready. Willow was walking just behind him, nervously fingering a sharpened piece of wood.

"What do you mean: they'd only come with guns?" Daniel asked seriously.

"Oh, come on," the blond said. "If you haven't figured it out by now I'm not sure I should tell you."

"Buffy," Giles said from behind them.

"Explanations can wait until we're somewhere less public and more secure, Giles," the girl said with authority.

She no longer sounded much like a teenager.

"Where are we going?" Jack asked.

"Willow's house," the three teenagers chorused.

* * *

_Review. It does a body good. _


	6. Chapter 6

Title: **A Sarcophagus in Sunnydale (Chapter 6)**  
**Author:** thecrystalkey  
**Summary:** A newspaper article has sent Jack and Daniel to Sunnydale. What will they find? Primarily from the POV of Jack O'Neill but focuses on the Buffy characters.  
**Spoilers: **Season 2 Buffy up to 'What's my line?', no real spoilers for SG-1 (early seasons).

**Disclaimer:** All characters copyright MGM or Joss Whedon/Twentieth Century Fox/Mutant Enemy. Only the plot is mine. This is a non-profit fan story not intended to infringe the rights of MGM, Showtime, Gekko or Double Secret productions. Nor those of Joss Whedon, Twentieth Century Fox, or Mutant Enemy. Besides I have no money, sueing me would be a waste of time. :)

* * *

When they reached the house Giles herded Jack and Daniel into the living room.

Buffy went to get ice from the kitchen and wandered into the living room to throw herself down on a couch and put it on her knee.

Xander disappeared for awhile, from what Jack could see the boy was checking the doors and windows on the house.

Willow had headed to the kitchen and came into the living room carrying a first aid kit. A very well stocked first aid kit. The young redhead started pulling out supplies and then began doctoring wounds.

It was mostly cuts and scrapes on Buffy and Giles. Jack waved her away and so did Daniel, neither of them having more than some bruising and minor scrapes.

When Xander finally came into the room, a nod passed between him and Giles, then another nod between him and Buffy. All secure, Jack read that as.

Willow took one look at her friend's face and headed back into the kitchen.

"It looks that bad?" the young man asked, putting a hand up to his face.

"Well, I doubt if anyone will mess with you for a few days," Buffy said, amused.

"Are you implying they would otherwise?" Xander asked, mock-hurt.

"She's not implying anything," Willow said from the kitchen doorway. "She's saying it."

The girls laughed. Xander acted injured but he was smiling. Willow tossed him the ice she'd gone to get.

"The bitch that did it is dead," Buffy offered apologetically.

"Gotta look at the bright side," he said cheerfully, then his face fell. "Not that I can tell anyone."

Willow brought the first aid kit over to where Xander had sat down and began expertly applying butterfly bandages to hold the long cut on his arm closed. He iced the bruise that had already begun to appear on his cheek.

For people who'd just been attacked by creatures Jack hadn't even known existed they were in a pretty damn good mood. His control snapped.

"What in the Hell is going in this town?" he yelled. The four locals looked at each other.

"The things that attacked us just now were vampires," Buffy said in a bored tone, as though she didn't expect him to believe her.

Jack's mouth opened and closed. Daniel just let out a long breath.

"Vampires?" Jack asked.

"Vampires," she confirmed. "You can believe it or not, I don't much care."

"I believe it," Daniel said quietly.

"Daniel?" Jack asked softly.

"Think about it Jack," the archaeologist said. "Think about some of the things we've seen and then think about what happened today. I got a good look at their faces, Jack. They were inhuman and they had fangs. And they turned to dust when you put a pointy piece of wood through their hearts."

Jack thought about it. He hated the thought that maybe vampires really existed, but it fit what had happened.

"Alright," he said warily. "That makes more sense than it doesn't."

"My only question," Daniel said. "Is why was he calling you Slayer?"

"Because that's what I am," the girl said.

"Buffy," Giles objected faintly.

"Oh, come on, Giles," she said tiredly. The older man sighed.

"Before you ask," Giles said. "For as long as there have been vampires there has been the Slayer. A Chosen One, one girl in all the world with the strength and skill to fight the vampires. To stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their numbers. Buffy is the Slayer. Don't tell anyone."

"And you all help her," Jack said.

"We do what we can," Xander said.

"Mostly it's just with the research," Willow added.

"They're just kids!" Jack objected to Giles. Giles grimaced at him.

"I did try to keep them out of it. They're teenagers," the Brit pointed out. "Do you really think that telling them not to do something is actually going to prevent them from doing it?"

"And what kind of an example would that set?" Willow demanded. "Trying to get us to close our eyes and pretend like nothing's going on?"

"These things killed my best friend," Xander said intently. "Do you really I'm just going to turn my back after that?"

That silenced Jack.

The look in the eyes of all three teenagers was one he'd only seen in the eyes of soldiers before. They held shadows that had no place in the eyes of children, as far as he was concerned.

But these kids had involved themselves in this and Jack couldn't find it in his heart to blame them.

"What's your interest in the sarcophagus?" Daniel asked.

"Part of the job," Buffy said. "This is the Hellmouth, weird things pop up and we investigate. If they're dangerous, we deal with them. If they're not, we don't have to."

"Either way, you shouldn't have to," Jack said.

"Hey, no one would be happier than me if I got to have a normal life," Buffy said. "But that's not the way it works. The least I can do is make sure as many people as possible in this town get to have that."

"I'm assuming you aren't just here randomly," Giles said to their visitors. "You know something about that sarcophagus."

"I'm an Egyptologist," Daniel defended himself.

"And he is an Air Force Colonel," Willow said pointing at Jack. "And you both work at the same place."

There was silence at that little accusation.

"How could you possibly know that?" Jack demanded.

Willow blushed and Buffy stepped between her and the Air Force Colonel.

"Did you really think it took her that long just to put a 3-D picture program thing together? Wills is a genius!"

"I asked her to look into, well, you," Giles said. "I take full responsibility."

"I still wanna know what they're doing here," Willow stated firmly. She was shaking a little but not about to stand down.

Jack sighed. "If I told you that we thought there might be something, evil, in that sarcophagus, would you be willing to help us deal with it?" he asked.

"Jack!" Daniel sounded scandalized.

"Carter's been told to back off the investigation Daniel," he admitted. "The President ordered Hammond to stand down. As of about 6 o'clock this evening we've been on our own."

"The General wouldn't do that, would he?" Daniel asked.

"I got the impression there was some kind of outside pressure at work," Jack said. "It seems nobody wants anything that's going on here to become the military's concern."

"Damn straight," Buffy said. "They could get hurt."

Jack couldn't believe his ears. Apparently it showed on his face.

"What?" she asked. "In case you didn't get my little comment from before, guns don't work on most of the things we deal with. At best, they won't even feel it. At worst, it will make them mad."

"That's besides the point, since the military's been told to back off," Xander pointed out. "Whether you like it or not, you need our help now."

"I don't like it," Jack grumbled. "Besides, in this case, if it gets out guns will work on this thing. And I'd feel better if I had one."

"From the sounds of it, this sarcophagus has been tightly sealed for generations," Giles pointed out. "Unless we're planning to open it and kill whatever's inside, whether or not guns work on it is irrelevant."

"The Museum director's planning on opening it," Willow pointed out.

"Not until Friday," Buffy said. "Can't we just…steal it, or something?"

"It's kind of…big, isn't it?" Willow asked.

"All we need is a lifter and something to transport it in," Xander said. "I can get those. And set up a distraction for the guards. I can even pick the locks. With Buffy to help lift, that's not the problem. It's the security systems that worry me."

"What? Where?" Buffy asked incoherently.

"And when did you learn to pick locks?" Willow asked, sounding amazed.

"Halloween. SoldierBoy remember? It's all still up here," Xander said, tapping his head. "I know the base layout better than the school and I still have the access codes. I'll just… borrow the equipment for the night."

"How likely are you to get caught?" Giles asked.

"Not very," Xander said confidently. "Base security is laughable. I can ghost in and out and they'll never know better."

"Go Xander," Buffy said. She sounded impressed. He shrugged.

"Well, if you can get the equipment, I can deal with the security systems," Willow said thoughtfully. "Can't be any harder than hacking the coroner's office."

"I didn't hear that," Giles said faintly. "I'm not hearing any of this."

The three teenagers smiled at him.

"You didn't hear that either," Buffy ordered Jack and Daniel. The archaeologist held up his hands. Jack nodded silently, still stunned at what they were thinking of planning. And at the level of professionalism and maturity these kids were showing.

"Even if you do manage to…to acquire it," Giles said. "Where would we keep it?"

"They're here," she said, gesturing at Jack and Daniel, "Because they usually deal with this kind of thing. Am I right?" she asked them. Jack nodded again.

"Once we have it," she said. "We hand it over to them," she pointed at Jack and Daniel. "And they drive off into the sunset and do whatever needs to be done to it. Or with it. Or whatever. That work for you?" she asked them.

"I'd like to help with…acquiring it," Jack said. A silent conference between the youths and she shook her head.

"It's better if we do it," she said. "If we do get caught we can claim we were just pulling a prank or something. Get adults involved and it'll just get messy."

"The police would accept that?" Jack had to ask.

"They accepted that our last principal was eaten by a pack of wild dogs," Buffy said dryly. "At lunchtime. On a school day. When no one else saw them or was attacked. And they closed the door when they left."

Xander winced. "Must we keep bringing that up?" he asked plaintively.

"Just to torture you, Xander," Willow said with a smile.

He groaned and buried his face in his hands.

"What actually happened?" Daniel asked with morbid curiosity.

"A group of students got accidentally possessed by hyena spirits during last year's zoo trip," Buffy explained. "Before we got them back to normal they ate our mascot, a pig, and then four of the five attacked and ate Principal Flutie when he called them to his office."

"What about the fifth?" Jack answered.

Harris flinched visibly.

"He was locked up in the library's book cage at the time," Buffy said.

"Thanks be to God and Buffy's great right hook," the boy said. He actually managed to sound grateful. "He was me. And can we please get off the subject, because, ew."

"It wasn't actually my right hook," the blond corrected. "I had to hit you with a chair."

"The point being that the police are clueless when it comes to the types of things we deal with," Giles said, coming to Xander's rescue.

"What did you mean by distracting the guards?" Jack asked.

"I thought I'd blow up a garbage can or two in the opposite wing from the exhibit," the kid said. "If it looks like they need something to do besides check out the sarcophagus."

* * *

_Review. It does a body good. _


	7. Chapter 7

Title: **A Sarcophagus in Sunnydale (Chapter 7)**  
**Author:** thecrystalkey  
**Summary:** A newspaper article has sent Jack and Daniel to Sunnydale. What will they find? Primarily from the POV of Jack O'Neill but focuses on the Buffy characters.  
**Spoilers: **Season 2 Buffy up to 'What's my line?', no real spoilers for SG-1 (early seasons).

**Disclaimer:** All characters copyright MGM or Joss Whedon/Twentieth Century Fox/Mutant Enemy. Only the plot is mine. This is a non-profit fan story not intended to infringe the rights of MGM, Showtime, Gekko or Double Secret productions. Nor those of Joss Whedon, Twentieth Century Fox, or Mutant Enemy. Besides I have no money, sueing me would be a waste of time. :)

* * *

As they got ready for bed back in their hotel room, Jack and Daniel were both silent. Each man thinking his own thoughts about what they'd heard that evening.

"So," Daniel said into the silence. "Does it bother you that we're planning grand larceny with a bunch of high schoolers and a librarian?"

"A little," Jack admitted. "It bothers me more that they consider us the civilians. And that even if they were willing to accept it, someone is blocking any official support they might get."

"Xander moves like you do, did you notice?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah," Jack said heavily. "I'm trying not to think about that either. Because it leads to thoughts about how he knows the layout of a military base better than that of his own high school. And why Halloween was the answer to that. Or where he got base access codes and learned that their security sucks."

"Tempted to warn them?" Daniel asked with a smile.

"It hurts my professional pride," Jack said plaintively, "to think that a 16-17 year old kid could 'ghost' past security. Much less that a group of them could steal a sarcophagus out from under the noses of security guards."

"You think they can do it?" Daniel asked.

"They think they can," Jack said. "If Harris can get the equipment and Rosenberg can disable the electronic security, I don't see why they couldn't."

Daniel didn't look convinced.

"You heard them, Daniel," Jack said. "They act carefree and casual, but they've been operating basically as vigilantes below the official radar for close to two years. We've been officially ordered out of the area, Carter said. So you and I are on leave now and, officially, on our own. I wouldn't want to try to steal that thing myself, would you?"

"I just don't think we should be encouraging high school kids to steal," Daniel said.

"They're good kids, Daniel. I don't think any of them is going to take up stealing for fun after this. And if they did, I'm betting your Dr. Giles would set them straight in a hurry. Besides, now that they know it shouldn't be opened, they'll probably steal it anyway."

"What are we going to tell Hammond?" Daniel asked.

"As little as possible," Jack said uneasily. "For all our sakes."

* * *

_Review. It does a body good. _


	8. Chapter 8

Title: **A Sarcophagus in Sunnydale (Chapter 8)**  
**Author:** thecrystalkey  
**Summary:** A newspaper article has sent Jack and Daniel to Sunnydale. What will they find? Primarily from the POV of Jack O'Neill but focuses on the Buffy characters.  
**Spoilers: **Season 2 Buffy up to 'What's my line?', no real spoilers for SG-1 (early seasons).

**Disclaimer:** All characters copyright MGM or Joss Whedon/Twentieth Century Fox/Mutant Enemy. Only the plot is mine. This is a non-profit fan story not intended to infringe the rights of MGM, Showtime, Gekko or Double Secret productions. Nor those of Joss Whedon, Twentieth Century Fox, or Mutant Enemy. Besides I have no money, sueing me would be a waste of time. :)

* * *

"We still need a driver," Buffy was saying as Daniel and Jack walked into the Library at lunch that day.

"What are you two doing here?" Buffy asked. She sounded surprised rather than hostile.

"We have an appointment with Mr. Giles," Daniel announced with a straight face. Jack smirked.

"Cordelia," Giles said suddenly.

"Where?" Xander asked with a start, looking around.

"Not…I meant, she could drive. She's the only one of you that has her license," Giles said.

"You sure there isn't anyone else?" Xander asked a little desperately. "I'll have to drive it off the base anyway. I could drive or…What about Ms. Calendar?"

Buffy reached over and smacked the young man lightly on the back of the head.

"You don't have a license and you know why not Ms. Calendar," Buffy said.

"Just for that, you get to be the one to ask her," Willow said to Xander.

He groaned and got up, heading for the door. Jack actually considered heading out after him. He really wanted to get the kid alone and ask some questions.

Starting with when did he get military training and what happened on Halloween that he ended up with the base layout and access codes in his head.

The group had the crossbow Jack recognized from last night and a couple of swords out on the table. Willow was once again reloading the projectile weapon. Buffy was sharpening a sword.

Giles was sitting at the computer, book open at the one hand, pad and pencil at the other. He was apparently still trying to translate the Goa'uld on the side of the sarcophagus. Jack nearly took pity on him and had Daniel do it. Nearly.

It wouldn't do to give away all their secrets. If these kids did manage to steal it, he doubted they'd care if he and Daniel never came back as long as the sarcophagus didn't. In which case, they really didn't need to know that this had to do with aliens rather than the Hellmouth.

"So, during class today I found out I can get into the Museum security grid," Willow announced as she put the crossbow down.

"Excellent," Giles said. Then he realized what he'd said. "Well, not excellent, in that, we really shouldn't…That is to say, w-we should really tell them about that hole in their system. Just as soon as-" he trailed off.

"We're done breaking in?" Buffy suggested sweetly.

"Right. That," the librarian agreed.

"When is this going to happen?" Jack asked.

"Well, assuming Cordelia agrees to be getaway driver," Buffy said.

"And she has a date on Tuesday," Willow interjected.

"And I have a date on Wednesday," Buffy continued. "We'll have to do it Monday or Thursday. I vote Monday."

"Me, too," Willow said.

"Me, three," Xander said from the doors.

"Do you even know what you were just agreeing with?" Giles asked.

"Well, no. But anything Willow's in favour of…What did I just agree to?"

"We're pulling the heist tonight," Buffy informed him. "Will Cordy drive?"

"Pulling the heist, I love that," the young man said.

"Xander," Willow said.

"Yeah, yeah, she'll drive," Xander said irritably. "I had to convince her it was to stop the world from ending before her date, but she said she'd do it."

"We only just decided to do it tonight while you were gone," Willow said, sounding put out.

"Well, call me psychic, I guess," he announced.

"Xander," Buffy said plaintively.

"Please," the young man said. "She has a date on Tuesday, you have one on Wednesday, so those nights are out. Doing it Thursday would be just stupid, or an act of desperation. So it had to be tonight."

They were all just looking at him.

"What?" he asked irritably. "I can plan things with the best of them. Just cause I'm usually too lazy to bother…Anyway, I told her 9:00pm. She can drive me to the base. We'll meet up so she can take the wheel and we hit the Museum around 11."

"I go home, pretend to go to bed, sneak out and meet you there," Buffy said.

"I'll be on the computer from here," Willow said.

"I sneak around the buildings and rig the garbage cans," Xander said.

"We'll call when we're ready for you to do your thing," Buffy said to Willow.

"And then we get in, get out, and get on with our lives," Xander concluded.

Jack could Daniel was impressed in spite of himself. Jack himself had already moved on to thinking it was too bad he couldn't hire these kids for the SGC.

He'd bet the Goa'uld would be more afraid of them than SG-1 in no time. He wondered if Harris at least might not consider joining up when he was finished high school.

"What are we supposed to do?" Jack asked.

"Wait here and pretend like you don't know what's going on," Buffy ordered.

"I know what's going on," a familiarly snide voice announced.

"Principal Snyder," Willow squeaked.

"How's life treatin' ya?" Xander asked.

"You're still in it, aren't you?" the unpleasant little man asked. Xander held up his hands and took a step back.

"What is it that you think is going on?" Buffy asked in a painfully chirpy voice.

"What's going on, Summers, is that you and Harris and Rosenberg here are trying to cut class. Math class. In which you have a test. That started, oh, five minutes ago."

Various noises of dismay from the kids were followed by them clearing the room in no time flat.

Jack noticed the weapons had all disappeared with the kids. It was just as well this school didn't have metal detectors as a number of other high schools did.

"And who are you?" Snyder asked.

"Uh, Dr. Daniel Jackson," the archaeologist introduced himself. "And my colleague Jack O'Neill."

"That's nice for you," the principal said. "Why are you here? This is a high school."

"No," Jack muttered sarcastically under his breath. Daniel elbowed him.

"Actually we're speak to…uh, Mr. Giles. He has some texts in his private collection, on Ancient Egypt, that he's agreed to let me have a look at."

"He couldn't do this on his own time?" Snyder asked, shooting Giles a sideways look.

"Actually, that's my fault," Jack said. "We're only in town for a limited amount of time. Business, you understand, and this was the only time we had available. Mr. Giles kindly agreed to take some time out of his lunch break to meet with us."

"Right," Snyder said. He turned away from the two visitors.

"I actually came to talk to you about the damage incurred last night," Snyder said to the librarian.

"W-What about it?" Giles said nervously.

"You weren't here when it happened, were you?" the little man asked suspiciously.

"O-Of course not, whatever might have given you that idea?" the librarian asked.

"The police said there were lights on when they first arrived but that they suddenly went out just as they got into the building," Snyder said.

"Oh. W-Well, it was probably the h-hooligans that, um, that trashed the place. Needed light to destroy by, o-or something," Giles offered in explanation.

"You stick to that story," Snyder said, "But one day, she'll do something really stupid and you won't be there to shield her from the consequences."

"She who?" Giles asked.

"Summers, that's who," Snyder said. "I'll be keeping an eye on you," he said threateningly, "and everyone else in her little group."

"You do that," Giles said softly. "Good day, Principal Snyder."

"I will," Snyder said somewhat childishly. "Good day to you."

And then he was gone. When they were sure he was out of hearing range, Giles slammed his fist into the counter.

"Insufferable little man," Giles said angrily. "One of these days he's going to say something completely unforgivable and then I am going to deck him." Then he looked embarrassed. "Don't tell Buffy I said that, will you? She'll just…worry."

_Definitely paternal_, Jack thought. He and Daniel agreed not to tell anyone.

"So why did that Spike guy ask about Buffy's mom last night?" Jack asked. Giles started laughing.

"Actually," the man said, "That's a rather funny story…"

* * *

_Review. It does a body good. _


	9. Chapter 9

Title: **A Sarcophagus in Sunnydale (Chapter 9)**  
**Author:** thecrystalkey  
**Summary:** A newspaper article has sent Jack and Daniel to Sunnydale. What will they find? Primarily from the POV of Jack O'Neill but focuses on the Buffy characters.  
**Spoilers: **Season 2 Buffy up to 'What's my line?', no real spoilers for SG-1 (early seasons).

**Disclaimer:** All characters copyright MGM or Joss Whedon/Twentieth Century Fox/Mutant Enemy. Only the plot is mine. This is a non-profit fan story not intended to infringe the rights of MGM, Showtime, Gekko or Double Secret productions. Nor those of Joss Whedon, Twentieth Century Fox, or Mutant Enemy. Besides I have no money, sueing me would be a waste of time. :)

* * *

_I hate waiting_, Jack thought as he stood in the balmy California night outside the Museum.

He and Daniel had been supposed to wait for the teens at the school library with Giles and Willow but Jack hadn't been able to stand the suspense.

He'd taken a cross, a stake and some Holy Water and snuck out into the night. He felt stupid with the paraphernalia, but better stupid than dead. After the fight last night he wasn't going to take any chances about what the night here held. Or ever again, come to that. The vampires had each been at least as strong and as fast as a Goa'uld, he did not want to come across any unprepared.

It was just about 11pm and Xander Harris and Cordelia Chase were due to arrive any minute. Jack couldn't see Buffy Summers anywhere around but according to Giles she was an expert at moving through the dark. And Xander and Willow weren't bad at it either, the librarian had said, though one or both usually played bait rather than hunter.

He watched what looked like an army truck pull up in the shadows of the building's delivery entrance. A lone figure swung out of the passenger seat and Jack caught a glimpse of what looked like Xander Harris in fatigues as the boy was caught in the glare of a streetlight.

He looked a lot older in those clothes and he moved like he belonged in them. Jack could see now how the kid had gotten away with moving around an army base undetected. He looked like any other private and moved with the confidence of a professional soldier.

As Jack watched the kid was handed a full bag by the driver of the truck and disappeared around the side of the building. When he came back a couple of minutes later and handed the bag back, Jack caught enough of a glimpse to see that it was now empty.

_Distractions in place_, the USAF colonel thought to himself. _Hopefully they won't be needed._ He was still tempted to call Sunnydale Army Base and ask them if they could account for all their equipment, specifically trucks and loaders. But as Giles and Buffy had said: point out the security holes after you've finished exploiting them yourself.

A small scream across the way pulled him out of his thoughts. Buffy had surprised Cordelia by coming out of the shadows it seemed. A quick whispered discussion and he saw the shadowy form that must have been Buffy move her hand towards her head. They were calling Willow then to start creating holes in the security system for them to slide through.

Xander and Buffy moved towards the back of the truck and unloaded something heavy, Jack assumed that was the loader.

Some whispered instructions to the Chase girl, still sitting in the truck's driver's seat and the pair of shadows moved off. They were pushing a third, much larger shadow between them.

A patch of light caught them just before they disappeared completely into the shadows by the service entrance. Jack caught a glimpse of Buffy dressed all in black, blond hair covered by a black scarf, but wearing stiletto heels, also black.

_This is the worst part_, Jack thought. He could feel the tension mounting as he waited. He amused himself by picturing the look on the Sunnydale base CO's face when the truck and loader were returned to him with thanks but no explanation. He wondered if he could get whoever delivered it to take a picture.

A half-hour passed and still they didn't come out. Jack could see Cordelia getting restless in the truck, but he knew she wouldn't leave.

That the coolest girl in school, who would never be seen dead with the others in daytime, had agreed to be the driver for this, said to Jack just how important she thought this group's work to be. Even if she'd never say it out loud.

Forty-five minutes after the two teenagers had first entered the building and Jack himself was getting restless. Unless they'd had trouble it shouldn't have taken them more than half an hour to load the sarcophagus and get out. The only thing keeping him in place was that he hadn't seen any lights or activity within the building that might indicate they'd been caught.

He still couldn't believe he was letting teenagers do this. He'd tried to argue one more time before they'd left from the library. Harris had just waved goodbye and left, saying he was worried that Cordelia would leave without him if he didn't meet her on time. So he'd ended up arguing with a teenaged girl.

--- Flashback ---

"Trust me," Buffy said. "You can't help. In fact, you'll hinder, because I'll have to watch out for you too when I should be concentrating on other things. Like moving quietly and not getting caught."

"I used to be in Special Operations, Miss Summers, I think I know how not to get caught," he said.

"You're still not coming," she said. "And my name is Buffy. Only Principal Snyder calls me Miss Summers."

"Fine, Buffy, I don't think you're getting the point here," he argued. "You're a teenager, I'm not. I should be telling you not to do this. I should be having you arrested for even planning it. But because it needs to get done and because your friends can get the things we need to do it, I'm not only letting you I'm, god forgive me, helping you."

"Actually," she pointed out cheerfully, "we're helping you. This might be for your mission, Colonel, even though technically you shouldn't even be in this town by now, but this is for the good of my town. You said that whatever's in there is bad. Well, I believe you. You said you want it opened as much as we do. I believe you on that too. But this is my town and I'm supposed to deal with the bad things here. So until you get it out of town, that sarcopha-thingy is my- our problem and me and mine are gonna deal with it."

"I understand how you feel," Jack said. "I really do, but you're missing the point here. I want to help."

"You can help by staying out of the way," she pointed out reasonably.

When Jack looked at Dr. Giles and then at Willow Rosenberg and then at Ms. Calendar, each had shrugged and nodded. He'd sat down in defeat, only to sneak out about ten minutes after Buffy left.

--- End Flashback ---

He sighed as he thought about that conversation. He wondered how Daniel had taken his desertion. Especially with Willow's obviously developing crush on the arcaheologist.

After the two youths had been inside the building for an hour, Jack couldn't take it anymore and got up to head into the Museum. He was halfway across when he heard and saw them come out the way they'd gone in.

He crossed the rest of the road, glad they didn't seem to have noticed and waited in the bushes. He was now close enough to hear any conversations. And to see that it was Buffy and the sarcophagus-laden loader that come hurriedly out the door. Xander Harris was nowhere in sight.

"Cordelia," Buffy whispered urgently as she parked the loader near the back of the truck. "Get over here."

With an audible sigh, the other girl got out of the driver's seat of the truck and, also wearing high heels, trotted towards the back of the truck.

"Where's Xander?" Cordelia asked as took one side of the sarcophagus and began trying to heave it into the back of the truck.

Again Jack was tempted to come out of concealment but Buffy appeared to be handling the lifting while Cordelia guided the sarcophagus into the truck bed.

"Not that I care if he gets caught or anything," the brunette cheerleader said. "He didn't, did he?"

She certainly sounded like she might care. Then again, Jack mused, she probably would mourn the loss of her best verbal sparring partner.

"Not yet," Buffy said. "He's trying to confuse things, give us time to load it. So let's hurry."

One last heave and the sarcophagus was in. Next the girls manhandled the loader into the back of the truck.

Just in time, too.

Xander came flying out the rear entrance just as the blond girl slammed the tail gate up.

Seeing that everything was ready, he lifted his hand and pointing it back at the building as he pressed the button.

A couple of muffled explosions from inside the far wing of the building and a couple of less muffled ones from the front signaled the boy's pre-planted "distractions" going off.

"Let's go," he said, jumping into the truck bed as the girls go into the truck cab.

They drove off just as a single overweight security guard came puffing out the service entrance.

Jack found himself laughing softly as he faded back into the night.

--

He did make it back to the school before the kids, but only just.

He'd just dropped into a seat, having come in through the stacks, when the kids themselves came in through the main library doors.

Amused glances from the other four in the room assured Jack that they wouldn't give away his secret.

"You just had to set them off, didn't you?" Cordelia was asking.

"What did you want me to do? Just leave them there?" Xander was asking. "Or better yet, try to retrieve them tomorrow?"

"Why not?" the cheerleader asked.

"Because it would easier all around if we just hung a sign around his neck saying 'I did it' as having him hanging around the crime scene," Buffy explained.

"Could we? Make the sign I mean?" Cordelia asked.

Xander rolled his eyes and Buffy laughed.

"No, Cordelia," the blond girl said firmly.

"Went well, did it?" Jack asked.

"Well, there were some complications," Buffy admitted.

"But now we know there's no evidence left," Xander added with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Good lord," Giles said. "You didn't…"

"You owe me french-fries," Xander said to Buffy. "Told you he'd say that."

The blond girl rolled her eyes.

"No, we didn't," Buffy reassured Giles. "No historically significant objects were harmed in the making of this heist. Not even by Captain Blow-'Em-Up over there, who blocked our escape with some well-timed garbage can explosions."

"And SoldierBoy saves the day," the kid said triumphantly. "Now that we're done saving the world again, can we eat? I'm hungry."

"First, who do I give the keys to?" Cordelia asked. "I don't even want to hold them any longer. That is the worst, and ugliest, truck I have ever driven."

"It's the only truck you've ever driven," Giles pointed out dryly. "I believe Colonel O'Neill will take the keys. There's a good girl."

She tossed the keys to Jack who caught them handily. She actually had a pretty good arm.

"There," she said impatiently. "Can I go?"

"Please," Xander said, gesturing at the door. The prom queen stuck her tongue out at the boy as she walked past him and out the door.

Before anyone could say anything else, Xander held up a hand and began a silent countdown from five. When he hit zero, he pointed at the door just as Cordelia walked back in.

"I was wondering if someone would walk me to my car?" she asked. "It is dark outside and all."

Buffy got up with a sigh. "I'll be right back," she said to the others and walked out with the other girl.

"So," Xander said, throwing himself down into a seat, "you headed back to…wherever you came from now?"

"Guess so," Jack said easily.

"I still can't quite believe that you did it," Daniel said.

The two teens still in the room looked hurt.

"I'm just looking forward to returning that truck and loader to the Sunnydale Base CO with compliments. I've been wondering if I can get whoever pulls that duty to take a picture and send it to me," Jack said.

He found himself sharing a grin with Xander and wondered again what his chances on recruiting the kid after high school were. Jack was sure he'd be an asset to the SGC.

"If you do," the kid said, "send a copy to me."

Jack and Daniel waited until Buffy got back from walking Cordelia to her car and then said their thanks and left.

As they were walking out, he heard the adults and teens begin to argue about what food to get.  
--

He and Daniel were both silent as they walked out to the military-issue truck waiting in the staff parking lot.

Without a word both men went to check the contents of the back of the truck. Lifting the black tarp covering it, Daniel verified that it really was the real thing. He also bent to take a closer look at the seals on the cover.

"So?" Jack asked as they got into the truck's cab. They had already gotten rid of the rental car that afternoon.

"So, they did it," Daniel said in amazement. "They really did it."

"And they really just handed it over?" Jack asked.

"It's the real thing, Jack," Daniel reassured him. "Unless they had another one just lying around this is the one."

"How do the seals look?" Jack asked as he turned the truck's engine over and began to drive.

"It'll probably take us years to get them open," the archaeologist said. "That thing is heavily sealed. Hammond will probably send it to Area 51 for their guys to play with."

"Oh," Jack said sarcastically. "That's just too bad."

"The good news is Willow gave me a copy of that 3-D image she made, so I'll be able to study it and maybe figure out who's inside."

"Hopefully before we open it," Jack said.

"Hopefully," Daniel agreed.

There was silence in the truck as the men passed a sign saying 'Goodbye from Sunnydale. Thanks for visiting.'

Jack O'Neill stepped on the gas just a little as they passed the sign.

He regretted not having been able to get the Harris kid alone and, maybe, recruit him out of high school, but all in all he was glad to be leaving the place that housed something called a Hellmouth.

**-The End-**

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